Affiliations: Laboratory of Epidemiology and Psychology of Aging and
Dementia, Section of Neurology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University
of Palermo, Palermo, Italy | Department of Neurology, University "Tor Vergata",
and Fondazione "Santa Lucia" IRCCS, Rome, Italy
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Prof. Rosolino Camarda, LEPAD,
Sezione di Neurologia, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze Cliniche, Università di
Palermo, Via G. La Loggia, 1, 90129, Palermo, Italy. Tel.: +39 091 655 51 12;
Fax: +39 091 655 51 13; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: We evaluated the relationship between motor and neuropsychological
deficits in subjects affected by amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) and
{early} Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Kinematics of goal-directed movement of aMCI
and AD subjects were compared to those of age-matched control subjects. AD
showed a slowing down of motor performance compared to aMCI and controls. No
relationships were found between motor and cognitive performances in both AD
and aMCI. Our results suggest that the different motor behaviour between AD
and aMCI cannot be related to memory deficits, probably reflecting the initial
degeneration of parietal-frontal circuits for movement planning. The onset of
motor dysfunction in early AD could represent the transition from aMCI to
AD.
